Fugitive Wanted in 1997 Murder of Rival San Jose Business Owner Arrested

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A man who was wanted for the murder of a San Jose business owner nearly two decades ago has been located and arrested, agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigations announced Thursday.

After years of evading arrest for his alleged role in a 1997 murder-for-hire plot against the owner of a rival business, Ruben Lopez Ramirez was found near the city of Guadalajara in Mexico, according to the FBI.

Mexican authorities arrested Lopez Ramirez on Oct. 15 on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder. Because he is a Mexican national, he will be tried in Mexico for the crime, the FBI said.

FBI agents have been looking for Ruben Lopez Ramirez and his brother, David, since the murder initially occurred. The case has been featured numerous times on America's Most Wanted, FBI officials said.

At the time of the murder, the pair owned a business called "Red's Hydraulics" in Long Beach in Southern California. The business supplied auto parts for custom lowrider cars, which are older model vehicles fashioned to ride low and bob up and down and sometimes sideways.

The brothers' business was in direct competition with another business called Low Rider Hydraulics in San Jose, according to FBI officials.

Investigators believe the brothers ordered the murder of one of the owners of Low Rider Hydraulics, 60-year-old Leonard Miller.

The murder was ultimately performed by three men who were involved with the Mexican Mafia, under the order of the Lopez brothers, according to the FBI.

On March 3, 1997, one of the suspects walked in to the San Jose business, which was located on Pullman Way, and asked to speak with the owner. When Miller appeared, the suspect shot Miller without provocation, before fleeing in a getaway car, FBI officials said.

All three of the men were charged with murder and subsequently found guilty, according to FBI officials.